Archive for Free
Win free books with Angry Robot and io9
Posted by: | Comments
Everyone loves a competition – especially competitions that are pretty darn simple to enter!
To celebrate Angry Robot’s imminent invasion of the US of A and Canada, those lovely people over at io9 are giving you the chance to win some Angry Robot goodies. Head on over there to enter.
Two brief reminders – Dan Abnett and Lauren Beukes
Posted by: | Comments
If you’re in the London area (or can travel to it) tomorrow (25th August), it’s well worth popping into Belgravia, where I will be interviewing multi-million-selling novelist, comic-writer and screenwriter,Dan Abnett for the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA).
Dan is a great speaker, and with over 20 years’ experience in the business, he’s always fascinating to listen to.
Venue:
Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ
Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
All welcome! (FREE entry. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5.00).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.
________
And don’t forget – you have until next Tuesday to enter the SFX Magazine competition to win a copy of Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City in limited edition hardback. Click here for the competition details.
If you don’t feel lucky, you can buy the hardback exclusively from Forbidden Planet – and we only printed 100 to sell – now that’s limited edition!
Or, you can wait for the paperback, which is out in the UK on September 2nd (December 28th in the US and Canada). Pre-order it from Amazon UK, or Waterstones, or pop into your local independent shop and ask them to order it for you.
- Limited Edition Hardback: £20
- Paperback: £7.99
- eBook: £3.50
The Crown of the Blood – out next Thursday
Posted by: | Comments
Yep – it’s almost time for Angry Robot to storm the battlements once more and retake our crown. What better weapon to use to crush our foes and dismantle their war machines, than the start of a new, truly epic fantasy series?
Gav Thorpe’s The Crown of the Blood is just the book to help us defeat the usurpers and win the hand of the fair maidens that are… oh, it’s only Monday morning, and I think I’ve already worn this analogy dry.
Let’s just say that The Crown of the Blood is out on Thursday 2nd September in the UK (28th Sept in US and Canada), and it’s bloody good!
Don’t take our word for it. Over at James Atlantic Speaks the book gets an impressive 4 out of 5 stars* and the reviewer tells us:
This is one of Thorpe’s best novels. The setting and story are well thought out and are remarkably logical for a fantasy novel. If you enjoy military or historical fiction, you will enjoy The Crown of the Blood. Action, intrigue, conquest, and charismatic generals are waiting for you here!
And if that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, here’s a sample from the book. Yes, I know we posted this a couple of weeks ago, but it deserves another moment in the spotlight.
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
*OK, technically, it gets 4 out of 5 sans stars, but I like stars. Perhaps it could get 4 out of 5 swords, or maybe 4 out of 5 dinosaurs – dinosaurs are cool. Anyway, whatever the rating system, it got 4 out of 5.
Lissun and lurn
Posted by: | Comments
We do like our podcasts, and we know quite a few of you do, too.
So, just in case you’ve missed them, here’s a list of recent podcasts featuring the Angry Robot crew:
Angry Robot Podcast number 2 – featuring Kaaron Warren and Lauren Beukes
Lauren Beukes – Interview at the British Science Fiction Association
Angry Robot Podcast number 1 – featuring Marc Gascoigne and Lee Harris
Alt.Fiction podcasts:
(10) The World of Publishing – featuring Marc Gasgoigne (of Angry Robot), Steve Tribe, Jenni Hill and Jon Weir
(3) Blogging and the Internet – featuring Lee Harris (of Angry Robot), Vincent Holland-Keen and Alasdair Stuart
And fon’t forget – for the Angry Robot monthly podcast:
Meet Dan Abnett next week!
Posted by: | Comments
If you’re in the London area (or can travel to it) next Wednesday (25th August), it’s well worth popping into Belgravia, where I will be interviewing multi-million-selling novelist, comic-writer and screenwriter, Dan Abnett for the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA).
Dan is a great speaker, and with over 20 years’ experience in the business, he’s always fascinating to listen to.
So, whether you’re a fan of his comic work, his Black Library novels, his TV tie-ins, or his new, original fiction, pop along. It’s free to come along, and you don’t have to be a member of the BSFA to attend. What larks!
I have plenty of interesting questions lined up for him, but if there’s something you’re dying to ask Dan, put it in the comments section, here – the interview will be recorded, and podcast, later.
Venue:
Upstairs Room
The Antelope Tavern
22, Eaton Terrace
Belgravia
London
SW1W 8EZ
Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District/Circle)
All welcome! (No entry fee or tickets. Non-members welcome.)
Interview will commence at 7.00 pm, but the room is open from 6.00 (and fans in the downstairs bar from 5).
There will be a raffle (£1 for five tickets), with a selection of sf novels as prizes.
The Road to Bedlam – free sample (and it’s a biggie)
Posted by: | Comments
Mike Shevdon’s superb urban fantasy Sixty-One Nails was hugely popular when it was published in the UK last autumn. The equally-wonderful sequel – The Road to Bedlam – is published in the UK on September 2nd, but you can whet your appetites with the first few chapters, here – that’s 50-something pages for your reading pleasure.
Oh, and before you sit down to read it, make sure you have a box of tissues to hand – it’s an emotional rollercoaster of a journey!
___
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
2nd Sept – Publication of The Road to Bedlam
The uber-manliness of the manliest of manly men
Posted by: | CommentsSurprising as it might seem, I’m not talking about Angry Robot’s publishing director, though the mistake is easily made. The quote above comes from the very first review of Gav Thorpe’s magnificent epic fantasy, The Crown of the Blood.
I’m impressed by the moral neutrality. Similar to the work of Tom Lloyd, this is a book about warring factions, each of them convinced that they are in the right… To paraphrase (badly), no one has ever marched into battle thinking they were the bad guy. Mr Thorpe had that nailed. Even the proper “hero” of the book is a dodgy character – Ullsaard is convinced of his cause, but, ultimately, he is left in judgement before the reader.
…this book is hairy, gory, sweaty, shameless… and perhaps even a little bit thoughtful.
It’s out in the UK on September 2nd and the US on the 28th of the same month.
If the review has left you wanting more, and you can’t wait the few short weeks until publication, here are the first 50 pages, complete with dinosaur-punching action:
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
Zoo City – Free sample chapters
Posted by: | CommentsAs you know, Lauren Beukes is in the UK next week, visiting various places (see here for details on where you can find her) and you can still pre-order a limited edition hardback of her new novel, Zoo City from Forbidden Planet (though don’t leave it too long, there are only 100 on sale and they’re selling very quickly!)
If you can’t wait until the book is out (and quite frankly, we don’t blame you), how about the first 50 pages to whet your appetite?
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
FREE Nekropolis short story
Posted by: | Comments
I’m a big fan of the short story – anyone who knows me will tell you that. Well, they’ll tell you if you ask them – it’s not the sort of thing that would necessarily be voluntarily offered. Have you seen Lee? He likes short stories, you know. Won’t happen.
But I digress…
The sequel to Tim Waggoner’s wonderful Nekropolis is published in the UK and Australia from next week. Dead Streets gives you everything you loved about the first book, and more! And as a special treat for all you lovely people living out there in internet-land, we have a free short story set in Nekropolis. If you’ve not read the first book yet, all you need to know to get started is that Matt Richter (our hero) is a zombie and former cop, and his paramour, Devona, is half-vampire.
I flicked the flashlight’s switch and played its beam around to get my bearings. It was just as Devona had said: a foyer with stone walls and ceiling and a marble tiled floor. Nice enough, in a cold, Spartan way, but nothing to e-mail home about. There were sconces on the walls where greenfire torches had undoubtedly once burned to light the place, but the mystic flames had died away decades ago, and without an Arcane torchlighter to rekindle them, it looked like we were stuck with my flashlight.
As we started slowly down the foyer, I said, “So, are you going to tell me why this place is supposed to be haunted?”
Now head on over to Next Read to enjoy the full story.
Some awesome sample chapters from next month’s releases
Posted by: | Comments
What a cracking trio of samples we have for you today!
Here are some sample chapters from our March titles (all out on 4th March in the UK, later in the year for the US and Canada).
We will be offering free sample chapters of all of our titles prior to release, because you’re worth it.
All rights reserved.
However, feel free to share these sample chapters with anyone you wish, or to post them on your own site. And if you like them, buy Ian’s, Tim’s and/or Maurice’s book(s).
Please note that the formatting will vary from that of the final commercial product. Click on the PDF icon to download the sample.
City of Dreams and Nightmare by Ian Whates
King Maker by Maurice Broaddus
.
.
and don’t forget we have three incredible books out today:
Feel free to share these sample chapters with anyone you wish, or to post them on your own site. And if you like them, buy Guy’s, Thomas’ and/or Kaaron’s book(s).
Edge by Thomas Blackthorne (aka John Meaney)
